By Jacob Horn

Staff Writer

Haverford faculty are concerned students are having trouble with academic writing, and Haverford deans are concerned students are having difficulty communicating effectively on applications for grants, scholarships, and graduate schools. In an attempt to address these concerns, the Educational Policy Committee (EPC) is proposing changes that would integrate more writing throughout each department’s curriculum, said David Thorstad ’12, one of two student representatives on the EPC.

He said that the EPC wants the writing program to integrate more writing into 200- and 300-level courses and make more explicit which courses are writing intensive. They also propose strengthening the freshman writing seminar and having more seminars taught by postdoctoral fellows, Nora Graham ’11, the other student representative to the EPC, said in an e-mail.

These courses could be offered by the Writing Program itself, but Debora Sherman, Director of the Writing Program, said the Writing Program isn’t currently mandated for anything other than first year seminars and lacks the budget to begin offering classes beyond the first year. Alternatively, the Writing Program could act as adviser to other departments trying to integrate writing into their courses.

Indeed, writing instruction used to be part of the English Department. In 2002 it was separated into its own entity, the Writing Program. An EPC review of the program is actually mandated in the documents that established the program, Sherman said, so this review is not out of the ordinary.

“In its own sense [the review] might appear to be responding to a crisis, and that’s not the case. This was supposed to happen,” she said.

Sherman said that courses that come soon after students’ declaration of their major, such as the English Department’s junior seminar, offer an excellent chance to develop specialized writing skills for a particular field. However, she does not think every department needs a class just like the junior seminar.

Still, just the freshman writing seminar is not enough. ““No one will argue that one semester in freshman year ‘fixes’ students,” Sherman said.

Provost Linda Bell said that whatever changes the EPC proposes will aim to “embed writing throughout the curriculum.” In addition to revising the freshman writing seminar, she said there is “quite a critical need” to create a program focusing on the senior thesis.

 “There is a significant portion of the student body that is uncomfortable with writing critically," she said. At this point the administration is prepared to do minor and major changes.

Some of these changes may also impact the Writing Center, which Director Kristin Lindgren said in an email “has grown tremendously in recent years in terms of student use and programming.” She said that the center, which saw under 200 appointments with writing tutors in the 2004-2005 school year, is “on track for over 1000 student appointments” this year.

Lindgren said she understands the EPC may to want to make more resources available to the Writing Center “so that we can build on what we’re already doing well and enhance the kinds of support and programming we’re able to offer.”

These resources may take the form of new physical space, staff, or funding. Lindgren said that with more resources, the Writing Center would be able to “expand its workshop offerings, bring in more speakers, and work more closely with faculty to support what they’re doing in the classroom.”

The EPC hopes to strengthen the relationship between the Writing Center and other academic departments.

Student representative Graham said that the EPC will facilitate “more attempts to link the Writing Center with various departments at the college so they can get all the support they need in the more writing intensive classes.”

Sherman characterized the Writing Center as a vital component to successful writing instruction, and noted that the Center’s library of books focusing on writing in individual disciplines is one way students are being supported beyond their first year.

Thorstad said that while many students view the Writing Center as “a fix-it-up shop,” it is really its own pedagogical unit on campus. When students bring their essays to the center, he said, the essay serves as “a jumping-off point” for teaching students writing skills.

Student opinion is mixed on how well writing is taught in their classes.

Kira Jones ’12 said that, as a sophomore, she finds that her professors still focus a good deal on writing. “My professors still read all of our papers and make useful comments. You can definitely tell they want us to improve our writing.”

But Chris Chasin ’11, a political science major, said that he thinks his classes could focus more on improving general writing quality rather than just teaching students how to write for an exam.

“Even with research papers you’re writing for the class there’s not so much focus on improving the quality of the writing as the content of the writing, so I feel like there could be more effort to focus on how you write as opposed to what you’re saying,” he said.

Chasin looks back on his freshman writing seminar as a valuable experience, but even in the first-year seminars themselves, he said, the true mechanics of writing sometimes get lost to the topics upon which of the courses are based.

Students’ Council Co-President Will Harrison ’10 echoed the sentiment that writing can sometimes be neglected.

“There have been times in my poli-sci classes when I was surprised by how little writing we were asked to do,” he said. “I took an intro poli-sci class fall of freshman year and didn’t write a single paper.” He was thankful at the time, but he said that having more writing would have helped him in the long run.

Some feel the balance is just right.

Inez Suhardjo ’10, an East Asian studies major, said that none of the classes she took since her freshman seminar were specifically focused on writing, but that writing has been regularly integrated into her classes. Each class had a reasonable amount of writing, and as a result, she became comfortable with the way she writes. She has not had any problems working on her thesis thus far.

As the EPC continues its examination, Graham and Thorstad said, student feedback will play a key role. They have already begun meeting with students, and hope to get more input in the future. Meetings with faculty and others associated with the Writing Program and Center will also continue. Thorstad said that the EPC’s goal is to have a final proposal soon, but they are more concerned with the proposal being comprehensive.

Ideally, he said, the proposal will be put before the faculty and administration before next year’s budget is finalized so that they can begin phasing in changes as soon as possible.

Bell said, "The writing center and writing fellows do a great job. We do a good job, [but] we’re trying to do a really fantastic job."

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